I've got to be honest, this feels like an exercise in vanity- but you guys asked, so I will tell all- within reason. I certainly won't be mentioning ALL of my deep dark secrets; and I definitely won't be telling you about my secret marriage to Henry Cavill, or the fact that I am a member of The Illumanati- but I will tell you some other stuff.

What race are you?Where did you go school?Married/partner?Kids?Family? Religion?﻿﻿The hard hitters! I was born in Dunedin, but I'm a Canterbury supporter, because I lived there up until I was 11. My ancestry is predominantly Scottish and Welsh, but there's some sneaky French/Spanish WAY back on my dad's side. My parents are school teachers, so we moved a lot- always small country towns. I was riding quad bikes around my friends parents farms when I was 6, and lived in gumboots. I also tailed lambs. When I was 11, we moved to Oamaru, and a couple of years later I went to Waitaki Girls where I was a model student until Year 13. That's when I went off the rails and rebelled, as you do (or hopefully, don't do).

I have been engaged before- but not to my current partner- we'll see about that. I don't want to jinx it! I have a 3 year old, and he's the light of my life. If I'm ever awol from the group- it's because I'm doing mama things- or because I'm lying in a dark room hiding from the group.

I have an awesome family! They all live down South and I miss them everyday. I have a younger sister, a brother in law, and two nieces who are GORGEOUS. I'm not a very religious person...I have a healthy respect for God though- see, I capitalised His name. I also have no issue with those that are religious, it's really none of my business.

My lil sister & I- the secret is out. I am a natural blonde.

You can probably tell that by the colour of my child's hair...

He is generally not fond of pictures.

Who are your biggest inspirations for makeup?What is the minimal makeup you would wear?What's the one thing you cant live without when it comes to skin care?

My inspirations range from the members of MUO who are FOREVER coming up with new tips, tricks and products I'd never heard of, to various YouTube beauty gurus. BataLash taught me so much about a good base, and so many eye looks. Arna Morton inspires me with her immaculate eye makeup I can NEVER emulate. Shannon Harris has inspired me many times with her eye looks and lip combinations, particularly the ones worn with dark lips. Giovanna Belling taught me all there is to know about contouring! Otherwise- I love Pinterest for inspiration! My Pinterest is here: http://www.pinterest.com/kirstymuo/

If my skin is having a flare up, I wear no makeup at all and hide from the world...funnily enough, this is usually when I run into MUO members in public. Otherwise, I tend to wear a pretty full face; not because I particularly WANT to, but because I have so many products and combinations to try out for reviews. This is definitely not a chore, though ;)

I definitely can't live without the Trilogy Hydrating Mist Toner and the Trilogy Rosehip Oil Antioxidant+, which I use in conjunction with each other. I spray my face with the toner, then apply the oil before it dries- it means I don't have to use as much oil, and the result feels AMAZING. It's the perfect base for makeup (just wait ten mins before application), and perfect before bed (I sometimes apply an additional moisturiser if my skin is super parched)

Pros and cons of running the MUO Facebook group?

This is easy! Pros would include getting to know and meet some of the most amazing humans I've ever encountered. Seeing the group, and the MUO brand grow is mind-blowing. I have loved forging relationships with brands and PR companies, and having a platform for my writing. The cons...sometimes the group takes over my life- the amount of notifications I get is crazy. I get upset if people say mean things about me, the group, or the way it is run- really upset. I have VERY thin skin. Sometimes I'd just like to write my blog and not have a group to take care of as well...it'd be so much more peaceful...but the benefits outweigh the dramas- for now :o

What do you do now ? Work wise- and is it fun and really sophisticated haha?

My life is definitely not sophisticated! I'm at home full time with the child, who isn't at kindy yet- so I'm hectic. The fun and sophisticated parts of my life are when I get to go to product launches and industry events- I LOVE meeting other bloggers and beauty editors. I usually like to go to these events alone so I'm forced to mingle and network- even though it's pretty terrifying walking into a room full of beautiful people you don't know. The majority are lovely though!

How did all of this start??

I was a member of WIW Makeup, and decided to start a group that was just for makeup talk, with no selling- then heaps and heaps of people joined! I'm a writer, and decided to do some reviews for the group...these were well-received, so I started toying with the idea of starting a blog. A week or so later, I lost a dear friend who was a computer hacker (a REALLY famous one, Google Barnaby Jack- he was a rock star). I started the blog and found it really helped me whilst grieving, and I also think he'd be proud of me for doing something "computer-y". That was nearly a year ago, and I still miss him. Love you Barnes xxx

Why do you make me want to jump into bed with you?What is life? Where does the universe end? How was the solar system created? What came first, the chicken or the egg?

You're only human. Who can blame you?

Life is a complete nightmare from start to finish, with flashes of awesome and amazing and wonderful moments in-between to make it worth living.

The universe ends year to year, when the next Miss Universe is crowned.

The solar system was created by Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler in the classic film, Armageddon.

The chicken, obviously.

If you could choose one animal, what would you be?Pet peeves? Fears?

A manatee, definitely.

My pet peeves include the following: bad grammar and spelling (particularly on blogs), bad manners, slow moving people in the supermarket, slow-moving people anywhere, and foundation tidemarks on the jawline.

I am terrified of dead animals- the sight of one sends me into hysterics. Once I was stuck outside my house for 4 hours because my cat brought a dead rat inside and no one was home to remove it from the lounge. I don't like birds flying at me- I'm scared they'll get caught in my hair. I also have a very, very long lists of words that make me not just shudder when I hear/see them, but sweat.

For the blog and the brand, I'd love to keep working on gaining new readers, and encouraging existing members to engage. I have some really exciting brand collaborations coming up- more of those will be happening too, yay! The time is coming where I'd really like to try and make a living from blogging, which I can do in various ways. I may be hiring somebody to look after that side of things for me, which is crazy exciting- many of you have met her before and she's a dynamo (and a babe, and ridiculously smart). This means I'll have more time to write, to organise meetups and events, and to be more present in the group with you all. As for the group, it's going to be run the same way as it always was. I'll probably be looking at adding 2-3 more admin to the team- and soon all of the admin will be writing little introductory posts, just so all of you can get to know them. I do have some news regarding the group for you all, and that is this- once we get to a certain number of members (which isn't far off), I'll be capping it. I would like us to be able to focus on current members, and quality over quantity. At the moment, the list of requests to join stands at over 1,400- and no matter how much we tackle that list, numbers rise...it's a LOT of work! So once the group is capped, the list will essentially be a waiting list, with new members added when other members leave. Hopefully this will allow our group to become more tightly knit, and there'll be less drama :D

Random pics & stupid facts about me:

I'm big on hugs- whether the other person is keen or not

I'm a sucker for this guy's cheeks

How I look in the mornings, or, the reason I don't take makeup-less selfies

I am actually a ghost so look out

I'm still friends with this amazing human, even though the first time we met she pushed me down some stairs. I love her.

I've lived in Auckland for 14 years- but I will ALWAYS be a South Islander and I will ALWAYS love pies

It's always nice to know more( and more and more more) about you Kirsty, you're full of positive energy and so inspiring <3

Reply

Sam

13/7/2014 07:17:50 am

Awesome blog Kirsty :) your interesting, funny and ive learnt so much about make up from you and this awesome website. This website has encouraged me to go on a make up course part time for fun...so much to learn!! Loved reading your blog about you, your family (son is super cute), your interests and take on life...great blog!!

Reply

Lena

13/7/2014 09:30:44 am

Cool post! Always interesting to get to know a bit more about the mysterious MUO queen.